We have dialogued enough! We have experimented enough!

Religious Orders and Consecrated Life:

We have dialogued enough! We have experimented enough!

"You are blind, My pastors. You permit untold evil to ravage My House. How long do you think I will permit you to mislead and destroy the souls entrusted to you? I want an end to the experimentation in My House. I want an end to novelty. Restore My House, or I will come and send you out of it!" - Jesus, May 26, 1976

Bishop James C. Timlin, former Bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania, delivered this address to the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 1994:

Most Holy Father, Your Eminences, my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I speak in my own name.

I agree wholeheartedly with all that has been said about the great gift that consecrated Life has been and, I fully expect, will continue to be in the Church. I will direct my remarks to what I see as problems in religious life in order to give a complete picture.

I believe the last twenty-five years have been devastating to religious life as we have known it, especially in my own country. Thirty years ago, 22 percent of all religious in the United States of America were under 30 years of age. Today less than 1 percent are under 30. The number of religious has been cut in half. And that is easy to measure, but it is impossible to measure the pain and heartache experienced by so many of our dedicated religious men and women during this period.

The losses and uncertainty of recent years have finally gotten us to the point of asking some important questions about the identity and mission of religious life. Nothing but good can come from our frank, collaborative discussions.

"it should be obvious that the aberrations and the painful upheaval and much of what we have seen in religious life in our time cannot be of God."

But the time of uncertainty and lack of direction must now come to an end. It goes without saying we must not do anything which would even appear to stifle the Holy Spirit--as if that were possible! We must leave ample room, indeed, for a rich diversity in religious life, knowing that the Spirit does not contradict Himself.

But we must still be clear about what is expected by the Church of those who publicly profess to be vowed sons and daughters of the Church. We must be determined to chart a clear course for consecrated life. We must also give encouragement and support to all those thousands and thousands of faithful religious men and women who seek to be faithful to their commitment to religious life in the Church, as well as to those who feel abandoned by the happenings of recent years.

We have dialogued enough. We have experimented enough--some would say too much. The era of experimentation, or whatever we want to call it, has not been all that successful, and we should honestly and humbly admit it.

It is only common sense that we should not depart from tried and true measures in religious life until we are absolutely certain we are going in the right direction. The wisdom and guidance of holy mother Church is the principal way of insuring this moral certitude. One might say that for religious it is the only way. While many necessary changes have occurred in religious life since the Second Vatican Council, it should be obvious that the aberrations and the painful upheaval and much of what we have seen in religious life in our time cannot be of God.

Pope Paul VI, in speaking on this very subject, was very blunt: 'There may be better ways," he said, "but searching for them must no longer be carried out to the detriment of these forms [of Religious life that are truly holy and effective]. Those desirous of what they believe will be better, must either embrace the present forms while they search, or search in a life apart from the Religious life. (And that was back in 1971 !) (cf. Evangelica Testificatio, June 29, 1971).

A few practical observations. First of all, authentic religious life must be an authentic Christian life. At the very least, for one to be considered a religious, he or she must be what we euphemistically call a "practicing Catholic." How can one claim to be a loyal son or daughter of the Church if he or she deliberately fails to join the Christian community in the greatest act of community worship known to the world, the holy sacrifice of the Mass?

Or how can one be a Catholic in good standing if he or she takes doctrinal or moral positions which are in direct opposition to the clear teachings of the Church? This sounds very basic and may even seem ludicrous, but I am afraid it has come to this in some circles and in some religious communities. They need our help.

Second, I call for a traditional understanding of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. More recent interpretations of these vows have gone far beyond the biblical teachings of Jesus, and we must get back to living the vows simply, as they were understood from our Bible studies and just plain good sense.

The time-honored vows of poverty, chastity and obedience must be seen as facets of Gospel values. But "Gospel values" must be further defined. Some might say they are clothing their actions in "Gospel values or Gospel freedom" when they withdraw from eucharistic life, are absorbed in extreme feminism, when they publicly question magisterial teaching. We must make it clear that the Gospel for the Church's publicly vowed members is the Gospel only as the Church relates it to their vowed state and approved form of life. The Gospel for religious in the Catholic Church is the Gospel as taught by the Church.

Finally, there are three possible outcomes of all that is going on in Religious life today: 1) extinction; 2) minimal survival; 3) refounding and transformation.

I do not think there is any question but that many institutes will become extinct in the near future unless there is a radical change of course. And who wants to survive minimally? This is not much better than extinction.

Indeed, the only hope we have for consecrated life is a transformation, a refounding firmly based on Gospel values and the particular charism of the founder or foundress as approved and fostered by the Holy See.

"If the age of transformation succeeds," said Father Paul Philibert, O.P., "you will see religious more principally as people on fire with good news about their experience of God's love and Christ's call to them, and you will find that they will be restless to have you know and share in that charism that is the passion of their lives. The time has come to talk of such things."

It is this kind of transformation in consecrated life of which we must speak in this synod. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

"Know now, my brothers and sisters of religious orders, you will be mocked, you will be scorned, but you will please the Eternal Father and receive your reward in the Kingdom." - St. Francis, May 28, 1975

Our Lady of the Roses awesome Bayside Prophecies... https://www.tldm.org/../Bayside/
These prophecies came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995.

THE DEDICATED ARE LEAVING
"My child, We watch and see the houses of My Son crumbling, being destroyed throughout your world. Doors are closing, convents are emptying, and the dedicated are leaving and falling into all manner of sin and abominations. Who shall be in the remnant? Only a few will be saved." - Our Lady, May 26, 1976

INFILTRATED
"Yes, My child, I spoke to you of the evil ones who have infiltrated into the clergy. They are not entering with dedication and spirits of light, but they are bringing in the spirit of darkness. By their fruits will you know them, My child. I have asked you to be not fooled by those who wear the garments of the dedicated but have fouled their garments. You must pray more for the light and recognize the faces of evil about you, My child." - Jesus, June 5, 1975

OBEDIENCE
"In the cause of obedience, pastors and Our dedicated nuns, remember this: you cannot be obedient to one who has defamed his habit, to one who has cast aside his Faith, to one who goes forward as a destroyer of souls. The rabat is the teacher of life, but do not be fooled by those who foul these habits." - Our Lady, August 5, 1976

COME FORWARD
"Will you not, My children, you who are children of the light, come forward and become nuns, nuns with good hearts, with a good foundation of the Faith and the truth, and nourish Our sheep?" - Our Lady, June 18, 1982

JESUS MADE THE RULE
"Jesus the Lord, your Lord, my sisters and brothers, has made the rule. You cannot change it to suit yourselves. You have been blinded by satan. The liberation in your hearts has been placed there by satan. You gain nothing but your own destruction. Nuns, those who have accepted the rule and taken the habit, must remain in the habit." - St. Theresa, October 2, 1975

GARMENT OF PURITY
"Holiness and piety! Man—men of God, you must wear your garment of purity, dedication, and piety. What manner of foul deeds do you perform for the destruction of your sheep! For what? Material gain and pride and arrogance? You shall be cast into the abyss! Rank shall give you no advantage when you come over the veil." - St. Michael, December 24, 1975

WOE
"And woe to the clergy who has given himself over to worldliness and sin! Woe to the clergy who rejects his vocation and chooses a life upon earth after he has taken his vows! I say unto him: the judgment will fall great upon him." - Jesus, August 4, 1979

MOCKED
"Know now, my brothers and sisters of religious orders, you will be mocked, you will be scorned, but you will please the Eternal Father and receive your reward in the Kingdom." - St. Francis, May 28, 1975

THE "BUCK-PASSER"
"I see, My children, a great evil transpiring upon earth. Those who have the power to stop the evil have chosen to go downstream like ducks upon water, letting everything slide off their backs, neither caring nor visualizing the future. And why? Because they have given themselves to the world.
     "Just as My Son stood before Pilate and he washed his hands and said: 'This man is innocent; I see no wrong in him,' however, in his heart he knew of innocence but he feared reprisal from the crowd, My children; he valued his life, he loved his sin, and he was too much involved with the pleasures of this life and the world.
     "You see, My children, it is taking place all over again for those in command in rule. They go along 'passing,' as you say, 'the buck,' each one not willing to admit his error or his participation in evil, but only too willingly allowing others to take the blame or the responsibility. And I assure you, My children, if evil is being allowed, the 'buck passer' is just as guilty as the original one who had started the evil.
     "If you know in your hearts, O pastors, that souls are in danger of being corrupted, misled, and even destroyed, and you do nothing about it, because you do not wish to offend your superiors, because you value your life in this world too much and your good living; I assure you, O pastors, you shall stand before My Son and He shall not know you. You will be disowned, banished from eternal life in Heaven, and you shall join your father who is the father of all liars, satan, and the prince of darkness." - Our Lady, March 18, 1977

DO NOT LEAVE
"Do not leave when you are discouraged by those who satan has sent into your convents. Stand forth as an example of purity and godliness. You will not be cast aside by your God, as you will by man, as you stand to defend your God. Pick up your cross and carry it." - St. Theresa, November 20, 1972

TELEVISION / RADIOS
"Modernism must not be a way of life for Our dedicated. Our nuns have to have discipline, My children. Do not bring the world into the convents. I ask that the convents remain free of all television and radios, and return to their prayer life." - Our Lady, June 18, 1990

FOR GOOD
"Pastors, you shall be called and shall you stand before, in judgment, the Eternal Father and say that your teaching has been pure in His sight? Better that you fear your God than man! Obedience? Obedience is commanded by the Eternal Father for good, not for evil!" - Our Lady, May 26, 1976

Directives from Heaven... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

D159 - Religious Orders and the Dedicated: Part 1 PDF
D160 - Religious Orders and the Dedicated: Part 2 PDF
D161 - The Great Apostasy PDF
D165 - Apathy and Indifference PDF
D233 - Vocations, Part 1
D234 - Vocations, Part 2

Articles...

The sources of growth and decline in religious orders

https://www.tldm.org/news7/Foley1.htm

Pope Pius XI warned religious orders to maintain rigorous discipline
https://www.tldm.org/news7/Foley2.htm

The new Commandment of Jesus
https://www.tldm.org/News7/Colin1.htm

Love of God and love of neighbor
https://www.tldm.org/News7/Colin2.htm

Beware of groups forming that have alienated themselves from their hierarchy
https://www.tldm.org/News7/AlienatedFromHierarchy.htm

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